USC's Ross Cumming went from special teams to second-string linebacker to playing fullback on offense. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LOS ANGELES – Ross Cumming's life was already blueprinted, like the design for a new aircraft carrier.

He would go to the U.S. Naval Academy's prep school. Then to the academy itself. Then, to the pilot's program.

Then he would fly until he retired, and then return to southern California and sell real estate.

And he would play football for the Midshipmen, and maybe cruise past Army three or four times.

Now Cumming is 24, a graduate of USC. He wears a beard and his shoes aren't always spit-shined. He is thinking about becoming a football coach.

And, on national television Saturday night, in front of Brent and Herbie and all the Tostitos, Cumming will line up as a fullback for the Trojans against Stanford.

Life jumps around.

Good thing he has quick feet.

"I tried to make my mark on special teams, and then I was second-string linebacker, and now I'm out there with the offense and it's gratifying to watch people score," Cumming said. "It's a real exciting part of the game. I'm just starting to realize that."

It's happening just in time for the end of this elongated chapter, one that has involved some blood, sweat, tears and ibuprofen.

"It's been a really big move for us," said Coach Lane Kiffin. "It allows us to play Rhett (Ellison) at tight end, and he's our best blocking tight end. Ross has been very critical in the fourth quarters, being able to run the ball.

"It was just an example of a guy who was doing everything right, but having some young guys moving ahead of him on defense. But we kept noticing him in special team drills."

Cumming talks of "doing a backside cutoff on the defensive end," which sounds painful, but really it lets Marc Tyler and Curtis McNeal get into open water.

It's not flying, but it makes sense to Cumming. That is more than he can say for what happened at Annapolis.

The story goes back to Santa Margarita, where he hurt his back weight lifting, training for his prep-school year. Once there, Cumming's back seized up during boot camp, which coincided with two-a-day practices.

"I'd have to lie down," he said. "Then it would go away and I'd start to play and it would come back. It was diagnosed as back spasms but it took them a long time to do that.

"They wanted to fuse my back, but I said I'm too young to do that. They put me in a back brace for a few months. At least I got to wear sweats every day."

He walked out, then wept. His dad flew in from Chicago, off a business trip, and they commiserated. But the Navy, like most monoliths, wouldn't budge.

"It's a massive bureaucracy," Cumming said. "If they say X, Y and Z and you fall into that category, you're not going through. You can't penetrate it. It was disillusioning. Heartbreaking. One of the toughest days of my life.

"It had been a huge commitment. Now I didn't know if I wanted to pursue football. Or, really, what I wanted to do."

First he had to fix his back. He had sustained three stress fractures ("L-2, 3 and 4," he said).

Cumming took classes at Saddleback College while mapping it out. He figured he'd send game tape from Santa Margarita, to become an invited walk-on.

USC opened its doors. These were the BCS-bowl caliber Trojans, remember. Cumming had no guarantees, but one advantage. He knew training days.

"I walked in the training room and there's Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing," he said. "That was awesome. Ken Norton (the linebacker coach) would call me out on that. He'd tell those guys, 'C'mon, guys like Ross here are admiring you.'

"I figured special teams were the best way to get on the field. I made some big hits and (special teams coach) Todd McNair told (head coach) Pete Carroll about it. In a couple of years I got into the second-team linebacker rotation."

Some practices would feature the "linebacker kickoff," a coverage team built solely on LBs like Chris Galippo and Malcolm Smith and, yeah, Cumming. He was becoming one of the guys.

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